Provo business helps recreate memories
Jared Workman poses for a portrait on Monday, June 27, 2017, at his Provo home. Workman uses contracted artists to paint people's memories that they want to visualize, but don't have photos for. Sammy Jo Hester, Daily Herald
Jared Workman poses for a portrait on Monday, June 27, 2017, at his Provo home. Workman uses contracted artists to paint people's memories that they want to visualize, but don't have photos for. Sammy Jo Hester, Daily Herald
Jared Workman poses for a portrait on Monday, June 27, 2017, at his Provo home. Workman uses contracted artists to paint people's memories that they want to visualize, but don't have photos for. Sammy Jo Hester, Daily Herald
Many of us have cherished memories, but no physical representation of those. A new Provo company is combining technology and talented artists to change that.
Recreate is an online startup helmed by Jared Workman that connects clients with artists who can re-create a beloved moment in time. With modern technology, almost every minute of our lives could be clickable. But sometimes the most important memories are those that weren’t posed.
“The whole purpose is to capture those moments we didn’t get with a photo,” Workman said.
For some, that might be a simple afternoon spent out on the lawn with family, while for others it might be an event from family history. Since the company’s launch in February 2016, Recreate clients have commissioned a variety of scenes. One wanted a collage of places traveled with the client included in the scene. Another client presented his bride with paintings of their five favorite dates.
One woman had a scene created of her husband’s memory. Growing up, the husband played hockey, and his grandfather came to every game. Using old pictures of his grandfather, the woman commissioned a painting that depicted the grandfather in the stands of one of the husband’s childhood hockey games. Workman said that one was wonderful to see come to life.
The process is easy for both client and artist. A client uses the Recreate website, recreatememories.com, and selects an artist based on budget, style and medium. The client needs no artistic expertise — no knowledge of oils, pastels, watercolors — to choose the look of their finished painting, because all their choices are done visually.
Every one of the now 35 artists working through the site must paint a single representative scene of a woman and a child. Clients can see those depictions side-by-side, and choose the style that most appeals to them. While anyone could do this same process by reaching out to local artists, the technology behind Recreate makes it something anyone could do from the comfort of their home.
“It’s the simplicity of it. All of the artists have an idea of what you want, and these are artists from all over, with varying skill levels,” Workman said.
Once a client chooses an artist, they then upload multiple pictures of the people involved, reference photos of the area or ones like it, and descriptions of the scene. The artist then creates a few different preliminary sketches for the client to choose from. Then the artist crafts the finished piece, editing it along the way from client input. Once the client is satisfied, he/she then pays for the piece, and has it shipped.
Workman doesn’t consider himself an artist — he’s a computer engineering student at Brigham Young University. But he has many friends who are highly talented artists, and he has an appreciation for the value of creativity.
“I had a roommate, and he is a fantastic artist. But he works in a call center. I think there should be more ways for artists to make money doing what they are good at,” Workman said.
As an artist, Sarah Keele loves the Recreate platform. She’s a married mother of a young toddler, and freelances from her Orem home. She loves the flexibility and exposure the site gives her for her work.
“I like that it gives artists and clients a middle man. It brings people to each other,” she said. “That’s really appealing, because not a lot of places will take the time to do that. And the marketing is done by Recreate. I don’t have to do the marketing, which otherwise would take a lot of my time. It’s also a good way to build up my client base.”
Workman hopes to build the business to include more artists, and expand the site’s reach throughout the nation, so more people can capture their precious memories from the past.